Early 1977 Apple II rev.0 system
I am the new owner of a very early 1977 Apple II system, serial number A2S1-0101. The machine is in amazing condition, having been zipped up in its brown vinyl Apple bag in the closet of the original owner for the better part of three decades. Remarkably the components are all original, never upgraded, including the completely unmodded rev.0 motherboard serial number 1.303 with Integer BASIC ROMs. Also, the early case has no vents, and appears hand-painted and rather crudely finished at the edges. Best part is that the system works perfectly! I had to share my excitement with you guys!!! -Howie
Epoxy,
A very nice find indeed. It's about the same as finding an original Harley-Davidson. 
looks like it is in fantastic shape.
You might want to get an approximate date on this unit. Check date codes on chips and using a mirror maybe you can read the date on the back of the keyboard PCB. I wouldn't open the case, since based on the condition of the screws, it looks like the case has never been taken apart.
Regards,
Mike Willegal
Nice Score! That's an awesome piece of early Apple II machinery!
Congratulations on obtaining that unit for your collection!
Craig
It's neat to see the case with no vents. The chips that I could see all had a manufacture year of 1977.
Thanks guys, I am indeed thrilled to have this machine. It really is a time-capsule find inside and out...I bought it from the son of the original owner who said he couldn't remember it being used all that much, and the overall condition certainly supports that. The inner wall of the case has a stamp indicating "July 6 1977" so that's either the assembly date for the complete system or just the case. I'll look for later dates on other components. Note the "16K 4K 4K" memory select blocks...this system was ordered with 24K that surely was a whopping configuration that early on.
There are relatively few online images of Apple II systems with early silkscreened logo power supplies and cases without ventilation slots, so maybe these photos reveal details that folks are curious about. (For example, I didn't realize that the earliest power supplies had simple handwritten serial number stickers.)
In addition to the computer itself, I received a nice selection of documentation including the original direct-from-Apple sales receipt (check out the price in 1977 dollars!), and among the accessories and disks a pair of very early paddles. These were a big surprise, as they look to be the ones shown in the original advertisements, but I always thought they were just mockups that were replaced with the familiar square paddles with big round spinners when the systems actually shipped. Has anyone else seen these before?
Here are some more photos...enjoy! -Howie
epoxy,
Man...you have hit the Mother Lode! Congrats!
That is as awesome find. Congrats! ..and slightly jealous.
Dave...
The results of this auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/220876370111 should make you feel even more thrilled, since your new acquisition is several orders of magnitude more rare/collectible/historically interesting than the one in the auction.
It's probably the Steve Jobs after-life reality distortion field at work.
Here are a couple more photos. Among the paperwork
and disks that came with this system were a few data cassettes. I
believe these are original tapes from Apple that either came with the
computer or were available for early users to purchase, and it's
interesting how simple the labeling was on these...reminiscent of
Apple's homebrew roots before attention was placed on packaging for mass
market brand awareness. Certainly a far cry from the slick appearance
of Apple accessories today. I also really like the extra sticker on the
Applesoft BASIC tape...it looks like it was stuck on there as an
afterthought to make sure proper credit was given to someone's little
startup company that was helping Apple out. Those days are long gone.
I wonder if the "red" print label was from actually from Apple. I'm thinking of doing a "label" run at some point of Apple Labels from before the Apple II was released, if the "red" was is "real" Apple, that must be it.
I'm still amazed how perfect that Apple II you got is after so many years and not needing restoration
I think you should ask Woz to sign it, that would be the only modification I'd ever do to it!
I wonder if the "red" print label was from actually from Apple. I'm thinking of doing a "label" run at some point of Apple Labels from before the Apple II was released, if the "red" was is "real" Apple, that must be it.
Yes, that's one reason I wanted to share these photos: I've never seen official Apple II tapes with such simple labels. But again it may just be that these really are super early examples before Apple gave more attention to brand appearance. Much in the same way that the very first Apple II "Mini-Manual" was not much more than photocopied (mimeographed?) sheets of notes held in a report binder from the local stationary store. I can imagine these tapes, with their homemade appearance, being dropped in the box with each early motherboard or system as well.
If anyone has seen these tapes before, I'd appreciate confirmation of their authenticity.
Howie
WOW that looks like it just came off the factory floor!!!
How did you find that, a little old lady from Pasadena?